


Caleb Gets a Haircut

by nocturnalmesmerism (orphan_account)



Category: Critical Role
Genre: Caleb getting taken care of, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Molly is a he/him nonbinary, haircut, i mean i guess, playing with hair, this is my first fic so i’m sorry if it sucks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 23:23:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16147715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/nocturnalmesmerism
Summary: “Caleb,” Yasha said carefully, as if he was a skittish animal she was trying not to spook, “Why don’t you come sit down, we want to ask you something.”“Jesus Yasha, you make it sound so fuckin’ ominous,” Beau exclaimed, “Caleb... we just think you could use a haircut and maybe some nicer clothes?”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic ever so please be nice. not betad so lmk if there’s an error and i’ll fix it.

Caleb smiled internally to himself as he arrived back at the little inn The Nein were staying at. He had managed to find a rare book, one that had been on his mental wishlist for a long time. That was one of the benefits to visiting a higher end town, rather than some of the ones they had previously stayed in.

Caleb pushed open the door to the bar underneath the inn and made his way to the table. Everyone was just where they had been when he had left them to go book shopping, but now they looked like they were having a frustrated conversation amongst themselves. Once he was close enough to hear, but not close enough to be noticed, he overheard Beau saying, “I mean, would it really be so bad for him? It’s not selfish to want your friends to take care of themselves!”

Fjord gave her a slightly disbelieving look and replied, “Maybe not, but that’s not really our motivation here, is it? Y’know how Caleb gets when he’s out of his comfort zone.” Nott chimed in, “And part of his comfort zone is being able to go unnoticed!” Jester made a scrunched up face and said, “Okay, but, like, in some places- like here- people notice you more if you look like a stinky dirty hobo!” Yasha looked thoughtfully at Jester before saying quietly, “He has been drawing a bit of attention here, and we don’t know where The Gentleman will send us next, it may be higher class as well.”

Caleb froze as Nott suddenly looked up from the table and saw Caleb standing a few yards away. Everyone followed her gaze, and at least Fjord and Nott had the decency to look a little bit guilty for being caught talking about him behind his back. “Caleb,” Yasha said carefully, as if he was a skittish animal she was trying not to spook, “Why don’t you come sit down, we want to ask you something.”

“Jesus Yasha, you make it sound so fuckin’ ominous,” Beau exclaimed, “Caleb... we just think you could use a haircut and maybe some nicer clothes?” She rushed through her sentence keeping him from interrupting with his protests.

“You don’t have to wear them all the time!” Nott rushed to add, “Just when we need to look more... well kept?”

Caleb glare resolutely at the floor, face hot, refusing to meet anyone’s gaze. He didn’t need any new clothes, he liked the ones he had well enough. And he deserved to stay filthy anyways. He wasn’t about to waste his, or anyone else’s money on clothes for himself.

“No.”

“Caleb, come on-“

“It is a waste of resources. My clothes are fine. If I really need to shave or something, then Yasha can do it.”

Mollymauk laughed, “Oh my god, she isn’t going to shave you with her huge fucking sword again. The fact that that even worked once is ridiculous.” Jester joined in, “Caleeeebbbbbb, it will be so fun! We can try on different outfits, and Nott and I will paint your nails, and-“

At the mere suggestion of being the center of attention Caleb flinched back and practically shrank into his coat. “No, Jester, please just leave me be.”

Fjord intervened, “How about a compromise, we won’t spend any money on it, no new clothes or anything, but Molly here can give you a quick haircut- you can cut hair, right Molly?”

“Yep!”

“Great! So Molly will cut your hair and if anyone here knows how to sew-“

“I CAN!” Jester interjected loudly.

“See, then we can stitch up some of the holes in clothes you already have.”

Caleb weighed his options and found that this was probably the best deal he was going to get, if he flat out refused he would never hear the end of it, so a haircut and mended clothes wouldn’t be the end of the world.

“Okay... I suppose that is, acceptable.”

Jester and Beau whooped and Caleb instantly found himself uncomfortable again, quickly retreating to the safety of his room. At the very least he had his new book.

———

Three chapters in, a knock on the door startled Caleb out of his reading. “Ah, come in?” the door swung open and Mollymauk was standing there with a huge grin on his face. “Ready for your makeover, Caleb?”

Caleb grimaced and Molly chuckled. “I suppose I am as ready as I will ever be.” He said, sighing.

“Don’t be so dramatic, it’s a haircut, not torture.” Molly said, rolling his eyes.

Caleb grunted vaguely and pushed himself off the bed, carefully bookmarking his book and setting it on the nightstand. He followed Molly to his room where inside he found an array of tools which he assumed must be for cutting hair, though he’d never seen at least half of them in his life. Next to the tools were some towels and a chair that sat in front of the water basin in Molly and Fjord’s room. Next to the chair was a bucket with steam coming off the surface of the water inside it. Molly looked back to see him standing in the doorway and he rolled his eyes again, grabbing Caleb’s hand and pulling him in, shutting the door behind him. Caleb nervously shuffled in place a little bit.

“Where, is Fjord?” he asked a bit haltingly. Molly’s eyes seemed to soften a little. “Everyone else is downstairs drinking still, I figured you probably didn’t want an audience.”

Caleb let out a small sigh of relief and relaxed a bit. He hadn’t even really realized that about half of his anxiety about this whole plan was having everybody watching him for extended periods of time. Staring and making comments about his appearance and possibly making jokes at his expense. He could take a light hearted joke or two that he was the butt of, but with all the attention on him it would get overwhelming quick. Any of them (probably Beau or Jester) could accidentally hit on a sore subject. The other half, of course, was about change. He didn’t care so much about his appearance but he had grown used to looking the way he did. Jokes about him being underfed, dirty, and tired looking no longer bothered him, but he’d really rather not give people something new to make fun of. Something that he wouldn’t have built emotional defenses against, and would be unprepared for.

 

He watched Molly pull the chair closer to the basin and lay a small towel over the edge of the basin. “Come on then, sit!” he patted the chair. Caleb sat hesitantly in the chair, hunched in on himself and feeling awkward and weirdly exposed. Mollymauk’s hand landed on his shoulder and he flinched, looking over at him with startled eyes. “Oh, sorry, I forgot how jumpy you can be.” Caleb looked back down at the floor. “Next time I’m going to touch you and I’m out of your field of view, I’ll tell you first.” Caleb was surprised enough at that that he actually looked Molly in the eyes. Nobody, save for Nott, had ever offered that before. Molly just smiled and squeezed his shoulder gently, before gently pushing back on it, so that Caleb began to lay back in the chair. “Alright then, darling, yes, just lean back, and now tilt your head back- perfect!” Molly guided his head back, making sure all his hair made it over the edge of the basin. Once Caleb’s head was leaned back, and his neck rested comfortably against the towel that had been placed on the lip of the basin, he blinked up at Molly who grinned at him, hand still on the side of Caleb’s head. Caleb turned red immediately, and Molly’s grin turned into a poor attempt to hide a fond smile. He finally squeezed shut his eyes, unable to take the intense red eyes on him any longer. The hand on the side of his head stayed, but he could hear Molly moving a bit. “Okay darling, keep your eyes closed, I’m going to pour some of the water into it.” Caleb forced himself to relax a bit and nodded silently.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> am i actually making what should be a one shot more than two chapters? just to separate POV? maybe.

Molly watched Caleb finally relax into the chair, as he poured the warm water into his hair. “I’m going to brush it now, tell me if it hurts.” Caleb just hummed softly in agreement, and the slowly relaxing look on his face made Molly smile, more affectionately than he had perhaps intended. He got to work brushing out Caleb’s hair; it was pretty fucking tangled. Molly silently wondered when was the last time he had so much as combed it. He started from the ends, working his way up to Caleb’s scalp, occasionally apologizing when he pulled a bit to hard and saw Caleb grimace and tense up for a moment.

Thankfully, despite the occasional too-sharp tug, Caleb was more relaxed than Molly had ever seen him. Perhaps even more than when he was reading, and that in itself was something to be proud of. Maybe it was the fact that Caleb had to concentrate to read, but for this, he only had to sit back and let Molly take care of him. Which, it seemed, was pretty hard for him at first anyways. He was embarrassed and didn’t seem to think he deserved to be taken care of by anyone. Molly rarely commented on it, knowing it would likely do more harm than good, but knowing this silently hurt his heart a bit.

When he reached the roots of Caleb’s hair he seemed to have gotten all the knots out, and admired the reddish color of his hair. It went so nicely with his blue eyes and freckled pale skin. After indulging in those thoughts for a moment, he murmured to him, “Shampoo now.” For once in his life trying to keep his words to a minimum, not wanting to break this relaxed state Caleb had slipped into. Caleb hummed again, in acknowledgment.

Molly rubbed the shampoo in his hands a bit before running his hands through his hair, covering it in a rich lather. He heard Caleb sigh happily, and definitely a bit louder than he had meant to. But he didn’t seem to have noticed. Molly continued to run his hands through his hair, focusing on his head and gently scratching with his talons. When he rubbed against spot near the base of his skull, Caleb subconsciously pushed up into the movement. The corners of Molly’s lips twitched up and he gave the area more attention, cradling it in his hands, running the pads of his fingers down and then his nails lightly scratching back up. Caleb shivered a bit, and when he looked Molly could see goosebumps on his skin.

Molly felt a powerful sense of pride when he realized that Caleb had gone practically limp in the chair. So lax, in fact, that even the crease in his forehead, the one that always stayed, even as he slept, had smoothed out. Molly kept running his fingers through Caleb’s hair, longer than necessary. Basking in the small content sounds he would make when Molly did something that felt nice.

Eventually he did relent and decided to wash the shampoo out before the water got cold. When Molly moved his hands away from Caleb to grab the bucket, his brow wrinkled back up. Molly immediately decided he could lift the bucket with just one hand, placing the other on Caleb’s shoulder after a quietly murmured warning. The bucket wasn’t too heavy, it was now only half full after all, and Molly easily washed the suds from his hair. Caleb’s hair was even prettier now, all the dirt, grease, and blood from their travels washed away.

Molly found himself playing with Caleb’s hair, even without the pretense of washing it. He caught himself though, and before he got carried away and did something stupid like tell Caleb how good he looked, he reached for the conditioner. He poured some in his hands and warmed it up a bit before once again taking his time stroking it throughout Caleb’s hair. Finally, he used the rest of the water to wash out the conditioner as well.

When Caleb blinked open his eyes again and looked up at Molly he felt as if he had been struck. There was a sort of willing vulnerability in his eyes that he had never seen, and honestly never thought he’d ever see. The earnest trust was almost to much to handle, but Molly managed to give him a soft smile and before he could second guess himself he put a hand back in his hair, thumb stroking tenderly at the hairline.


	3. Chapter 3

At the feeling of the last of the product being rinsed fully out of his hair, Caleb found himself opening his eyes and blinking up at Molly. He felt soft and relaxed, so very unlike the usually anxiety and tension that followed him constantly. As much as he would usually overthink this, this allowing of anybody to get close enough to touch or to provide kindness or comfort, he found his thoughts shockingly quiet. Molly smiled down at him, and it was so genuine, not his usual big grin or smug smirk, that Caleb couldn’t help but give a small smile in return. Molly’s hand landed on his head and a finger softly stroked at his hair. Caleb sighed and blinked slowly, having to will his eyes back open instead of falling back into that temptingly, completely relaxed state.Molly grabbed a towel from the bed and squeezed the excess water from his hair, then lightly patting it so it was damp, but dry enough that it wouldn’t drip all over the floor. They didn’t exchange any words between them, the silence and warmth of the atmosphere that had snuck up on them was too pleasant for either to break with words. Molly drew back to pick up the tools for cutting his hair, and set them on the bed closest to the basin where Caleb was sitting. Finally Molly broke the silence, his voice still very quiet, almost a hoarse whisper, compared how boisterously he generally liked to present himself.

“If- um, if you could move your chair in front of the bed. Yeah like that, now just turn it facing away. Perfect.”

Caleb easily followed every instruction given to him and then he stood, looking expectantly back at Molly, waiting for him to tell him what to do next. Molly looked back at him for a minute before seeming to realize that Caleb was waiting for further instruction, despite the chair being right in front of him and Molly clearly being ready for him to sit.

“Sit down, Caleb.”

Caleb sat obediently, feeling the need to sit up a bit straighter than normal. He heard Molly take in what seemed like a shaky breath, before hearing clattering, as he grabbed for something from the tools beside him. Molly’s hand moved to where he could see it in his periphery, and gently rested on his shoulder, while his other hand came up to comb through his hair with the fine-toothed comb Caleb had seen on his way in. His hair was already untangled, but now it all lay flat and draped down to its full length. His eyes fluttered closed again at the feeling of the comb scraping gently against his head. He felt as if he were swaying a bit, so he came to rest his back against the back of the chair. Again, Molly was the one to speak up.

“Do you want it short? Or should I just... clean it up a bit?”

Without opening his eyes Caleb replied, “Just clean it a bit, _ja_.”

His voice had come out rougher than he had expected, quiet and a bit dreamy, the way he spoke when he first woke up in the mornings. Then there were hands in his hair again and he could feel Molly measuring out how much to cut, with his hair between his fingers. Then he heard a careful snip and the ends of a piece of his hair near the front fell to the ground. Molly repeated this several times, making his way around. Occasionally adding slight layers and gently turning Caleb’s head this way and that to get the right angle. He went easily, head tilting and turning with no resistance as he just let Molly take care of it. Caleb felt his breathing slow and just listened to the snip snipping of the scissors, and the soft whisper of hair falling to the ground. Eventually he heard the mattress creak as Mollymauk got up to look at him from the front. Caleb opened his eyes and looked at Molly, watching his expression for a reaction. After a moment or so he smiled, once again, a softer smile than Caleb had come to expect from him.

“Want to have a look?”

“ _Ja_ , I would.”

Molly handed him the mirror, and Caleb looked at himself. He still looked like himself, much to the relief of his earlier anxieties, but something was different that was hard to place. He looked a bit fresher, younger perhaps. Better taken care of. Before Molly had come to collect him, he had also washed his face of any dirt, so he looked like a nicer version of himself. The kind that may have been his future, had his past not gone so poorly. He blinked at his own reflection before looking up at Molly and smiling. Molly looked at him expectantly.

“Well?”

“It.... It is very _gut_ , _ja_. Thank you, Mollymauk.”

Caleb replied, trying, and failing, to keep the shyness from his voice.

 

———

 

When Caleb returned downstairs, he saw Jester had already retrieved his coat from his room, and was sewing shut the many holes in it, and talking animatedly to Fjord. Nott was up on the table next to Jester, scrubbing furiously at the dirt on the jacket, the woolen interior was mostly finished, and whiter than it had been in years. Caleb stood awkwardly at the bottom of the stairs and only began to move forward with a small shove from Molly, who only grinned at him when Caleb turned to glare. The movement caught the attention of Nott who immediately abandoned the coat, jumping from the table and running full speed at Caleb, screeching, “CALEB YOU LOOK SO HANDSOME!!!” Caleb laughed but felt his face heat up a bit, ignoring Jester’s matching excited yelling to bend down and intercept Nott into his arms for a tight hug before she pulled back and rushed to add, “You were handsome before too, of course, but you clean up very nicely!”

Caleb smiled shyly, “I know what you meant, _liebling_. _Danke_.”

The second he stood back up he was being tackled again by Jester.

“CAAAALLLEEBBBB, why didn’t you tell us you were actually sort of handsome??? I could tell a little bit when Pumat cleaned you off, but now your hair is all brushed and you’re all clean and MOLLY you did such a good job making him into not a hobo!!!”

Caleb flushed even darker and Molly broke from watching Caleb to answer Jester.

“Well, thank you darling. I’ll take that as a compliment of the highest degree.”

Everyone looked to Fjord, the only one left at the table who hadn’t turned in for the night, and the only one who hadn’t made his opinion of the new Caleb known.

“Good job, Molly. He looks mighty respectable.”

Caleb felt very warm, between his currently red face, both Jester and Nott hanging on to him still, and this new memory of Molly taking gentle care of him (which he was definitely going to hold onto for a while, perfect memory or not).He hadn’t felt this loved by this many people in... quite a while, and he knew then that there was nothing he wouldn’t do to selfishly hold this group together as long as he could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there’s my first fic ever! I hope you liked it : )


End file.
